Inverse problem of solar oscillations

Abstract

Helioseismic inference can be made within a wide spectrum of sophistication, from arguments based on the results of very simple and highly idealized model problems which depend on specific limited aspects of the data to a variety of formal numerical inversions of all the data that are available. The idealized problems are relatively simple to analyze, and provide a tool for making immediate qualitative and sometimes even quantitative estimates of certain aspects of the structure of the sun. If well chosen, they are likely to add substantially to our understanding of the situation; indeed, they can be an extremely useful guide to designing the more formal techniques which, though numerically more precise, are frequently also more opaque. Therefore it is often prudent to utilize methods throughout the entire spectrum. In this lecture a selection of the techniques for making immediate inferences will be discussed, and illustrated with ex.amples of topical interest.